Apple Music Preview

We could not find iTunes on your computer.You need iTunes to use Apple Music

EDITORS’ NOTES

Jesse Winchester’s self-titled debut album immediately established him as both a singular songwriting talent and a performer of expressive understated grace. Winchester’s own fortunes have rested mostly with others covering his tunes; his own output has slowed considerably over the years. Love Filling Station is his first album since 1999’s aptly titled Gentleman of Leisure and it’s filled with the same easeful flow that one expects from Winchester. His soulful, country-inspired cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” fits in seamlessly next to the quick-stepping fiddle-fired “It’s A Shame About Him” and “O What a Thrill,” once covered by the Mavericks. But Winchester is at his finest with the ballads where he sits with a simple acoustic guitar and lets the melody fly. The deceptively titled “Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding” is actually a heartfelt ballad. He reclaims “I’m Gonna Miss You Girl” from Michael Martin Murphey who once scored it as a top 10 country hit. A cover of Freddy Hart’s “Loose Talk” as a duet with country-bluegrass singer Claire Lynch closes things out on an upbeat note.

Love Filling Station

EDITORS’ NOTES

Jesse Winchester’s self-titled debut album immediately established him as both a singular songwriting talent and a performer of expressive understated grace. Winchester’s own fortunes have rested mostly with others covering his tunes; his own output has slowed considerably over the years. Love Filling Station is his first album since 1999’s aptly titled Gentleman of Leisure and it’s filled with the same easeful flow that one expects from Winchester. His soulful, country-inspired cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” fits in seamlessly next to the quick-stepping fiddle-fired “It’s A Shame About Him” and “O What a Thrill,” once covered by the Mavericks. But Winchester is at his finest with the ballads where he sits with a simple acoustic guitar and lets the melody fly. The deceptively titled “Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding” is actually a heartfelt ballad. He reclaims “I’m Gonna Miss You Girl” from Michael Martin Murphey who once scored it as a top 10 country hit. A cover of Freddy Hart’s “Loose Talk” as a duet with country-bluegrass singer Claire Lynch closes things out on an upbeat note.

TITLE

TIME

O What a Thrill

3:18

Bless Your Foolish Heart

3:09

Wear Me Out

2:37

Stand By Me (feat. Jerry Douglas)

3:31

It's a Shame About Him

4:08

Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding

4:03

I'm Gonna Miss You Girl

4:25

I Turn to My Guitar

4:01

Lonely for a While

3:39

Eulalie

3:43

Far Side Bank of Jordan

3:20

Loose Talk (feat. Claire Lynch)

2:45

12 Songs, 42 Minutes

℗ 2009 Appleseed

About Jesse Winchester

Jesse Winchester was the music world's most prominent Vietnam War draft evader, though his renown came from a body of wry, closely observed songs. After growing up in Memphis, Winchester received his draft notice in 1967 and moved to Montreal, Canada, rather than serve in the military. In 1969, he met Robbie Robertson of the Band, who helped launch his recording career. In the same way that James Taylor's history of mental instability and drug abuse served as a subtext for his early music, Winchester's exile lent real-life poignancy to songs like "Yankee Lady," which appeared on his debut album, Jesse Winchester (1970). He became a Canadian citizen in 1973.

Despite critical acclaim, his inability to tour in the U.S. prevented him from taking his place among the major singer/songwriters of the early '70s, but he made a series of impressive albums -- Third Down, 110 to Go (August 1972), Learn to Love It (August 1974), Let the Rough Side Drag (June 1976), and Nothing But a Breeze (March 1977) -- before President Jimmy Carter instituted an amnesty that finally allowed him to play in his homeland. By that time, the singer/songwriter boom had passed, though Winchester continued to record (A Touch on the Rainy Side [July 1978], Talk Memphis [February 1981], Humour Me [1988]) and even scored a Top 40 hit with "Say What" in 1981.

In 1999, Winchester returned from a long recording hiatus with the new album Gentleman of Leisure. An active live performer, Winchester released his first live album in 24 years with 2001's Jesse Winchester Live at Mountain Stage. The following year he moved from Canada back to the United States and settled down in Charlottesville, Virginia with his new wife, Cindy Duffy. Two albums would follow before the close of the decade: Live, a concert recording that Winchester claimed was released without his authorization, and a new studio album, Love Filling Station, released on Appleseed Recordings in 2009. Winchester was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2011 but was pronounced cancer-free following surgery. However, in early 2014 he received a diagnosis of bladder cancer, and he died from the disease at home in Charlottesville on April 11, 2014; Jesse Winchester was 69 years old. ~ William Ruhlmann